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Dec. 12, 2023
Key verses 2:30-32 "For my eyes have seen your Savior, whom you have prepared before all nations, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and to give glory to your people Israel."
Our life of faith consists of thanksgiving and hope: Giving thanks for the events that have already happened and hoping for the promise. If we practice thanksgiving and hoping properly, we will have a blessed life. The Christ child is our gratitude and at the same time our hope.
Christmas has come near. Last Sunday was already the first Advent. Today we want to get to know two seniors, a gentleman and a lady, in order to experience the significance of the coming of Christ for us. We want to get to know Jesus personally and experience joy.
1 The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (22-24)
Luke tells us about Jesus' first visit to the temple with his parents. He is only about 40 days old. Why do his parents bring him to the temple so early?
Their first goal is to present baby Jesus to God.
"Present" originally means "to offer for sacrifice" or "to make available".
Because Jesus is their first son, they want to present him to God. According to church tradition, February 2 is the day of the Presentation of Christ. This is the 40th day after Christmas.
The presentation of Jesus reminds us of the story of the Israelites' rescue from Pharaoh's tyranny. In the tenth plague, God allowed all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians to die, but spared those of the Israelites. The Egyptians panicked and let the Israelites go.
The Israelites should always remember this and redeem their firstborn sons with the symbolic animal sacrifice.
And this story of salvation is fulfilled in the truest sense through Jesus Christ. God has redeemed us from the slavery of sin and the power of death through Jesus Christ.
Josef und Maria sind arm und haben Gott zwei Tauben gebracht (s. Vers 24). Unser Heiland hat arme, aber liebevolle, gläubige Eltern.
The second aim of Jesus' presentation is to bring God a purification sacrifice for Mary.
According to the law of the Old Testament, a woman who has given birth to a son is unclean for 40 days and, in the case of the birth of a girl, for 80 days (Leviticus 12:1-4). During these days, the young mother is to stay at home and not come to the temple. In other words, a young mother is allowed to rest and recover for at least 40 days.
It is interesting to note that this period of 40 days corresponds to the puerperium. The puerperium is the six to eight weeks following childbirth during which the female reproductive organs, with the exception of the breasts, return to their normal pre-pregnancy state. During the puerperium, the young mother should recover from pregnancy and childbirth.
The law in the Old Testament stipulates that after the days of purification, a young mother should give God a sheep for a burnt offering and a dove for a sin offering (Lev 12:6-7). But for a poor woman, two doves were enough (Lev 12:8).
Joseph and Mary are poor and brought two doves to God (see verse 24). Our Savior has poor but loving, believing parents.
While Mary and Joseph visit the temple with their baby Jesus, two elderly people recognize Christ. We want to get to know these seniors.
2 The testimony of Simeon (25-35)
Luke first introduces us to Simeon: "Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon; and this man was devout and God-fearing, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was with him" (25).
Luke gives us three characteristics of Simeon:
His first characteristic is that he is devout and God-fearing.
He is not a priest, but a layman. He might therefore think that he does not need to lead a pious, God-fearing life. But he lives as a pious (i.e., righteous), God-fearing person. Although most people are only ceremonial believers and ignore God's commandment, he lives before God and faithfully keeps his commandment. Because he lives before God, his heart motive and his way of life are pleasing to God and edifying to man.
The Bible names some pious people, e.g., Joseph and Mary (Mt 1:19), the priestly couple Zechariah and Elizabeth (1:6) and Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the high council (23:50). Acts 22:12 introduces us to Ananias as follows: "There was a God-fearing man who kept the law... named Ananias, who had a good reputation among all the Jews who lived there."
Some people do not believe in the living God. They do not expect God to see their motives and actions. That is why they live lawlessly.
But we should believe in the living God. We should not forget that God sees all our thoughts and deeds. He is looking for people who live and work for his glory and for the edification of others. We should lead a pious life for the glory of God and the good of people. God is then pleased with us.
The second characteristic of Simeon is that he waits for the consolation of Israel.
God has promised to send a Messiah to comfort his people (see Isa. 40:1; Isa. 52:9). But Israel's situation looks bad. Israel has lost its political freedom. And Herod the Great rules over Israel on behalf of Rome. Herod is such a cruel king that he has all the infants in Bethlehem murdered.
When political rulers are evil, at least clergymen are supposed to comfort the people. Unfortunately, Israel's clergy are no better than the political rulers.
There were two dominant religious groups in Israel at the time. Scribes and Pharisees are one group, and priests and Sadducees are the other. The Pharisees and scribes are law-oriented. They do not preach forgiveness to the people, but condemnation. In contrast, the priests and Sadducees are worldly-minded nobles. They emphasize the religious ceremony. But they believe neither in the resurrection nor in eternal life. They want to enjoy their earthly life as much as possible. That is why they love the world and the life of luxury. But Simeon is not legalistic, he is merciful. He is not worldly, either. He believes in the resurrection and waits for God's consolation through Christ. After Simeon has seen the Savior, he praises God: "Lord, now you let your servant depart in peace, as you have said; for my eyes have seen your Savior, whom you have prepared before all nations, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and to praise your people Israel." We ask ourselves what can really make us content and happy. Can democracy bring us true happiness? We are in favor of democracy. But we take seriously the fact that democracy cannot give us true happiness. But can a life addicted to pleasure make us happy? Not at all. A rich income would be good for us, but it can't make us happy either. South Koreans have become rich in the last 40 years. But according to WHO statistics in 2019, 28.6 Koreans per 100,000 inhabitants committed suicide each year. This means that South Korea has the fourth-highest suicide rate in the world. Germany's suicide rate ranks 42nd with 12.3 per 1000,000 people. The suicide rate shows us that people's happiness is not necessarily dependent on material possessions or their external situation. Simeon shows us how we can become truly happy. In his praise, he names the reason for his happiness: his eyes see God's Savior, who is sent for all peoples. Jesus is the Savior. Savior means redeemer or savior. Jesus is the Savior of all people. He saves us from our sin and the power of death. He gives us forgiveness, eternal life and the kingdom of heaven. There are various causes of our misfortune. But sin and the power of death are the main cause of our unhappiness.
If we do not live according to our sinful human nature, but live kindly and edifying in accordance with God's commandment, we can live peacefully and happily. Unfortunately, we commit sin from time to time. Thank God that he forgives us who repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus took all our guilt upon himself and died on the cross. That is why God gives us forgiveness.
But we still have a problem, because the power of death makes us hopeless. Through his resurrection, Jesus disempowered the power of death and gave eternal life and the kingdom of heaven to all who believe in him. So Jesus is our Savior. We have peace and joy in him. This peace and joy are not fleeting. We thank Jesus for his salvation and praise him.
The third characteristic of Simeon is that the Holy Spirit is with him (25).
Simeon has waited for the coming of Christ because God has made the coming of Christ known to him through his Spirit. He sees the little baby Jesus and recognizes him as the Savior. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he praises God:
"Lord, now you let your servant depart in peace, as you have said; for my eyes have seen your Savior, whom you have prepared before all peoples, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and for the praise of your people Israel."
Simeon blesses Mary and prophesies: "Many people will fall because they contradict Jesus Christ and do not believe in him. But all who believe in him will rise to eternal life. Before that, Mary will experience the terrible suffering of Christ. It will be as terrible as if a sword were piercing through her soul."
Here, the Bible testifies to what the Holy Spirit does for us. He helps us to believe in Jesus as Christ. We should do our best to recognize Jesus as Christ and believe in him. But ultimately we need the help of the Holy Spirit. No one can believe in Jesus Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit. That is the main task of the Holy Spirit.
And the core message of God is that Jesus is the Son of God and died for our sin and rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Whoever believes in this message is a child of God and receives forgiveness and eternal life.
We should warmly invite students and people to Bible study and worship so that they can believe in Jesus Christ. We pray that God will help them through the Holy Spirit to believe in the gospel. God will open their eyes and hearts so that they will believe in Jesus Christ, have eternal life and grow in Him.
3 The testimony of Hannah (36-40)
After Luke has introduced us to Simeon, a senior citizen, he also introduces us to a female senior citizen. Her name is Hannah, Anna in English. Hanna is a Hebrew name and means <grace>.
After seven years of married life, Hanna lost her husband and has lived as a widow ever since. If we assume that she married at the age of 14, she became a widow at the age of 21. She probably has no children either. In Germany, everyone would recommend that she remarry. It has been 63 years since her husband died. If she were an unbeliever, she would have gone mad long ago because of her various worries. How does she spend her time so that she stays healthy and lives long?
Verse 37 tells us that she serves God in the temple day and night with fasting and prayer. She does not allow herself to be burdened with worldly worries. That is why she can serve God with all her heart and pray. And God blesses her simple devotion and lets her know that Christ is coming to visit the temple. So she joins them while Simeon is still talking to Mary and Joseph. She praises God and tells everyone who is waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem that Baby Jesus is the Redeemer.
This story teaches us that we have roughly two ways to spend our time: We can spend our time worrying, or we can spend our time praying. We should decide clearly how we want to spend our time, with worries or with prayer.
We should accept Jesus as Savior for us and for many people, and make him known. In this way, we can spread true peace and true joy. Amen!
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